The Royal Botanical Gardens

I went walking yesterday, gimpy knee and all. I wandered down to Woolloomooloo Bay (yes, that is the correct spelling), and then across a wharf, and finally down this back alley of sorts, to find myself standing in the gardens, and along side of Sydney Harbor. It was here that I saw my first joggers in Sydney. I practiced staying to my left, but I think it is going to take some work. Here are the pictures:



Here are apartments lining the wharf.

Here are the other apartments lining the wharf, on the other side. They are probably a little expensive.

A cool looking red flower of sorts. There were some trees that were covered with them.

Does this qualify as a palm tree?

A cool rock formation

Another cool rock formation...

Yet another cool rock formation!

What looks to be a castle in the middle of the harbor. Probably a light house of sorts.

The Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. I took this same picture with my phone to use as a wall paper.

A little bit closer, now.

The road through the Botanical Garden that ends in this spot is called Mrs. MacQuarie's Road. It ends at a spot known as Mrs. MacQuarie's Chair. Mrs. MacQuarie (pronounced McCory), was the wife of New South Wales' first governor. She would walk this path along the harbor each day. Her husband, the good governor, had the road built for her pleasure, and even had a chair carved into rock at her favorite spot to stop and sit.

This is a side view of the chair, or at least close to it. There were news broadcasters filming directly in front of the chair, so a picture was impossible.

This was the path I followed to get to the Chair, and everything else. As you can see, it is beautiful.
This concludes my walking tour of Sydney. I hope you have enjoyed today's program. Tune in next time for more fun filled adventures. Cheers!



Respondinating

I DID!!!!! About Usher, I mean. I said "he was kind of a has-been", and if I remember correctly, you agreed with me. Also, we have achieved webcam-itude. It arrived in the mail at long last, so we can vid-chat in the mornings and stuff thru your gmail. Try and email that to me by the way, so I can see if you're logged on to chat or not in my contacts bar. *transition* I just saw a deer being butchered out behind the house. I went to take some trash out and there they were, some of our neighbors cutting up a half-skinned deer with a wide array of large blades. That's the most interesting thing that's happened since your leaving. I would include a picture, but I don't feel like going back out there. I can still here them. So anyway, I'm really glad to hear that things are going well down in Australia, and I'm touched by your Brother Ali-based tribute to me. L8RS :)

Lessons Learned from My First Full Day in Sydney (In no particular order)

1.      Looking right before crossing the road is habit forming, especially after being reminded by my brother-in-law, and the warnings written on the ground at every single intersection. “Look Right” with two eyes painted right next to it, each of which is looking right.

2.      Walking on the right side of the side walk will cause you to nearly hit every single person you pass, and earn you some very nasty looks. I have been trying to stay to the middle, because staying to the left just feels too weird.

3.      Walking in flip flops requires conditioning, and my feet are in no condition.

4.      Food looks and tastes slightly different. Not enough to taste wrong, but certainly not tasting right, either. Good, just not right.

5.      There are pigeons in Sydney. They are just not the only land birds to be found. However, they are very aggressive. Last night, one entered the pizzeria I was dining in and wandered around a bit before moving on its way. Today, one walked under the table I was sitting at while having coffee with my sponsor, and her entourage.

In other news, I got a library card and an email address for the University of Sydney. I feel like a real affiliate now. Honorary Affiliate, at that. I met with my sponsor, the Chair of the Anthropology department, and a graduate student doing her research in India. Everyone seemed to like my project, and that is reassuring. I took the subway by myself, and walked for a half an hour on instinct to find the University right where I thought it would be. That was also reassuring. A good day so far, and it is only 5pm. And now for the pictures:

My bed. Yes the walls are really that close on each side.

University of Sydney

Yes, a totem pole right in the middle of Sydney (I think this is Hyde Park...I am not positive, though)

My attempt at photo art.

This one's for you, Riley. I thought you would like the long arm of Uncle Sam Goddamn

Finally, lessons 6 and 7: Andre the Giant: Obey shirts are for sale here in Kings Cross (King's X as it is known locally). The world really is pretty small. Also, Riley, Usher is in the middle of a Australian Tour. Who said he was washed up?

The Continuation to the Beginning of an Interesting Time

There will be love, sadness, fun, madness, and grammatical errors (mostly on my part), but through the hardship of separation, a bond will grow stronger, and a father-and-son duo will grow closer. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll feel, you'll DIE! All on Transnational R n' R.

The beginning of an interesting time...

This blog was created to represent the ongoing relationship between father and son as they live parallel lives, separated by 10,000 miles. This space will resemble the inside of the car, where dad and son talk on a multitude of topics with honesty and humor. There will be music playing in the background. And the occasional outburst of road rage. There are no limitations on the content here. There will be words, pictures, animation, video, humor, heart-felt letters, diary-like entries, mindless ramblings, pontifications, philosophical treatises, poems, and many things yet to be determined. Mostly, this will be the record of two people growing, together and separately, while in the most unusual of situations.